外逃贪官在美首获重刑开先例 中行开平案八年追诉始末

BEIJING - The number of bribery cases involving government officials has increased by 13 percent since 2003, a senior anti-corruption official from the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said.
Prosecutors charged 9,476 governmental officials in nearly 9,000 bribery cases nationwide from January to June this year alone, Song Hansong, deputy-director of the SPP's anti-dereliction and infringement department, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

A guide points to a chair propped up by depictions of common methods of bribery: Sex, wining and dining, and cash. The chair was on display at an anti-corruption exhibition in Kaifeng, Henan province, in this file photo. [Bian Xuan / For China Daily]
Among the cases, 2,067 concerned the offer of bribes, in which 2,369 official suspects were involved. The number of cases increased 18.4 percent from the preceding year and the number of suspects involved rose 20.5 percent for the same period.
In 2009, 41,531 officials were charged for their involvement in 32,439 corruption and bribery cases. About 12,897 cases, or about 40 percent of them, were related to bribery, an increase from 12,471 in 2008, according to statistics from the anti-corruption department of the SPP.
In some of the bribery cases, millions and, at times, billions of yuan were involved and there was a significant increase in the number of senior officials implicated, Song said.
Officials from
State-owned enterprises,
major construction projects,
financial and securities,
administrative and law enforcement departments,监察和执法部门
as well as Party and government organizations,
accounted for the majority of the suspects, Song said.
Paying for renovation costs,装修
house purchases or abnormal accounts on houses
and free trips
were some of the ways in which officials were tempted to compromise themselves, along with cash offers, Song said.
Prosecution departments should pay special attention to duty-related crimes involving
mass incidents and major work safety accidents,
especially in areas like
construction,
real estate development,
land management and
mineral resource development,
as well as protecting mafia-style gangs, he said.

"Construction projects involve huge amounts of money and cover a wide range of areas. They have long approval procedures, which can easily lead to official corruption driven by huge economic interests," Song said.
In July 2009, Chen Tonghai, former chairman of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp), was charged with bribery and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve(缓刑).
Chen, 61, was convicted(证明有罪) of illegally receiving 196 million yuan ($29 million) between 1999 and June 2007, when he abruptly(突然地) resigned as chairman of Sinopec Corp. Chen helped others who sought to secure "illegal interests" in company operations, land transfers and contracts in return for bribes, according to the verdict(裁决) from the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court.
In another case, Liu Zhihua, former vice-mayor of Beijing, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in August 2008 for receiving about 7 million yuan in bribes, according to the court verdict.
From 1999 to 2006, Liu served as the vice-mayor and head of the management committee of the Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park in the capital. During his tenure(任期), he used his position to benefit his bribers in the areas of land exploitation(土地开发), bank loans and assets integration, the verdict said.
Excessive bidding also remains the focus of corruption and bribery attempts in the construction sector, because relevant laws and regulations are not sound enough, Song said.
Those who offer bribes receive lighter punishments than those who receive them, Song said.
In an effort to tackle these challenges, in 2008 the SPP established a work plan for the prevention of corruption from 2008 to 2012, which introduced a blacklist for graft(贪污) cases.
"The plan stipulates(规定) that, if any person or work unit is found to have offered bribes, they will be banned from entering the bidding market," Song said.
If the amount of money involved exceeds 10,000 yuan, he added, those found to have violated the plan will also be held criminally accountable and possibly receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
贪污：corruption, bribery, graft,
Official calls for laws against intl graft
By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-08 07:56
BEIJING - Bribery involving transnational(跨国) companies should be included in the Criminal Law when it is next amended, said the Ministry of Supervision.
Kong Xiangren, deputy director of the foreign affairs bureau of the ministry, said the push is based on the fact that more and more Chinese officials and international companies have been found involved in commercial bribery.

Multinationals eager to cash in on China's huge market have compromised their ethical codes and adopted the maxim of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". [Provided to China Daily]
According to statistics from the Ministry of Supervision, 69,223 cases of commercial bribery were investigated from August 2005 to December 2009, involving 13,914 civil servants.
"A lot of the cases, especially some cases of transnational business corruption, were first uncovered by the US and European governments, and then they directed our attention to related officials," said Kong during an interview by China Economic Weekly. "This is because most bribery is done very secretively."
"Also we found that more and more corruption and bribery cases were co-committed by officials from different departments," he said.
In the last few years, several renowned（有名的） multinational companies have been involved in commercial bribery in China, including Wal-Mart, PepsiCo and Siemens.
In March, four employees of Australian mining giant Rio Tinto - including executive Stern Hu, an Australian citizen - were sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison for taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets.
Kong said commercial bribery has been a common challenge for multinational companies, with hundreds of thousands of foreign companies doing business in China, and "more and more Chinese companies going abroad."
Experts think a major reason that multinational companies can commit commercial bribery is that China has no specific laws supervising and punishing transnational business bribery.
In the current Criminal Law, charges related to commercial bribery include taking or giving bribes, assisting in bribery, and bribing non-government workers, without any specific item on transnational commercial bribery.
"It is very necessary to take measures on transnational commercial bribery," said Fan Chongyi, a law professor from China University of Political Science and Law, who agreed with putting the charge into the Criminal Law.
With the development of a market economy, lots of multinational corporations are springing up across the country, which brings benefits but also nurtures corruption, Fan said.
"As the initiator and the member of the UN Convention Against Corruption, we have the duty to regulate the phenomenon," Fan said, adding that there is no legal basis for handling transnational commercial bribery in China.
Cheng Baoku, a law professor from Nankai University, suggested that a specific law against transnational commercial bribery should be created.
Zhao Jun, director of government and public relations for Ericsson China, told China Economic Weekly that multinational companies should set up internal systems to supervise and prevent commercial bribery, and the government should try to maintain a fair social environment.
"A fair market is especially important to prevent commercial bribery. Once fairness is broken, companies tend to bribe to do business," said Kong.
Cao Yin contributed to this story.http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-09/08/content_11271417.htm
China and US to boost anti-graft measures
By Tan Yingzi and Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-08 07:01
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WASHINGTON - Senior Chinese and US law enforcement officials have vowed to intensify（加强） efforts to fight corruption, including tracking down assets illegally transferred abroad by corrupt officials.
The move comes after China imposed stricter measures to prevent the transfer of assets by corrupt officials.
In recent years, an increasing number of corrupt Chinese officials and their families have reportedly fled the country after amassing(积聚) huge amounts of money, with many of them seeking shelter in the West.
David Luna, director for anti-crime programs at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs under the US State Department, said the US is willing to help track down assets illegally transferred.
"The US has a very good record in denying safe heaven to corrupt officials and their families, and we try to go after their assets as well," he told China Daily, stressing that information was the key to success.
"We try to encourage the Chinese government to provide information that is necessary for use in our courts."
China enacted its first formal regulation on managing "naked officials", or officials whose family members had gone abroad, in July in a major step to fight graft.
Some sections of the US media estimated that more than 1,000 corrupt Chinese officials had fled to the US, mostly to Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.
Song Hansong, deputy director of the Supreme People's Procuratorate anti-dereliction and infringement department, said corrupt officials who fled abroad should be brought to justice, otherwise it would undermine the judicial authorities. "China will work together ... with the international community to ensure an effective crackdown on corruption," he said.
There is a proven track record of cooperation between the two countries in fighting graft. China and the US had successfully prosecuted corrupt Chinese officials who fled to the US, and this "illustrates how the two countries can work together on these types of issues", Luna said.
One of the major cases that showed the positive results of cooperation occurred in 2008 when a US federal jury in Las Vegas convicted Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun, the masterminds策划 of the 2001 "Kaiping case", of defrauding the Bank of China (BOC) of $485 million over a period of 10 years. Their wives were also found guilty. The two men were sentenced to more than 20 years in jail in May 2009.
The significance of the case rested on the fact that Chinese officials helped US authorities collect important evidence against the Xus and their wives in China, and they were considered the first major Chinese bank criminals to face charges in the US, although Washington had previously repatriated a few corrupt officials.
Even though the two countries established "very good" relations in fighting corruption, ties were only formalized five years ago. In 2005 leaders from both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation under the US-China Anticorruption Working Group of the Joint Liaison Group for Law Enforcement Cooperation, said Luna, the co-chair of the working group.
Since then, officials from China's Ministry of Supervision and the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention have met their US counterparts at the State Department and Justice Department annually.
Officials from both countries also coordinated their efforts through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and conducted workshops on how to tackle corruption.
"We have had much success and fruitful cooperation over the past five years," Luna said.
The two sides have established a "really good trust" but the whole relationship is still "very new", he said.
"We hope to build on the success of the BOC case and hope our Chinese counterparts will present the dossiers of facts for new cases."
To collect and provide information the US can act on, Chinese officials need to understand the quality of information and evidence needed to support law enforcement in the US, he said.
"So that's why a bilateral framework and mechanism is so important. It not only develops trust between the two sides, but at the working level it helps China understand our systems and what kind of information is needed for prosecution and for our courts."
To help this goal, a Chinese delegation will visit the US State Department, as well as the departments of justice, treasury and homeland security this week (Sept 8-10).
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-09/08/content_11270487.htm
中美联手打击企业行贿 跨国企业在华行贿将重罚
http://news.sohu.com/20100717/n273570346.shtml
来源：环球时报-环球网
2010年07月17日11:01
环球网记者李宗泽报道，据美国世界新闻网7月15日消息，德国西门子公司爆出“贿赂门”丑闻后，该公司150余位高级主管6月底在北京开会，讨论如何遵守中国与美国的反贪腐法律。彭博商业周刊针对此一案例刊出专文指出，由于中、美检方积极追查中国境内的行贿案，跨国公司在中国行贿将付出重大代价。
近年来，随着跨国企业业务不断拓展，愈来愈多的国际知名企业爆出行贿丑闻，其中西门子公司因行贿丑闻覆盖范围广泛并涉及多国，所以最受人瞩目。美国检察官根据1977年生效的《对外行贿法》在中国积极调查美国公司在中国的行贿活动。由于西门子公司的股票在美国上市，美国有管辖权。2008年，西门子公司终于认罪，承认在中国及其它国家违反《对外行贿法》，同意付罚款4.5亿美元。
中国检方调查贪腐行贿也非常频繁，包括把澳洲力拓矿业公司四名中国员工以商业行贿罪名判刑。6月底，中国新闻媒体报道，中国的地方检察官正调查美国医疗保健用品强生公司向中国药物管理官员行贿事件。
美国监督司法部起诉行动的法学专家本?门德尔森表示，在中国，跨国企业要懂得拿捏分寸，勿把遵从中国的交际应酬与送礼习俗，变成严重的行贿罪行。中秋节赠送月饼给客户无妨，但有些公司做过了头，例如朗讯科技公司(Lucent)招待中国官员到美国大峡谷、环球影城、迪斯尼乐园旅游315次，就构成行贿，触犯《对外行贿法》法规，最后以付罚款100万元收场。 (来源：环球网)
外逃贪官在美首获重刑开先例 中行开平案八年追诉始末
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/0801/2009-05/14/content_1090939.htm
发布时间: 2009-05-14 【我要纠错】 【字号大中小】 【打印】
法制网特约撰稿 刘必华
法制网实习生 吕　静
许超凡、许国俊或许没有想到，他们的刑期会这么长。
与此前被遣送回国的同案犯余振东相比，“二许”的刑期超出了一倍。
2009年5月6日，美国拉斯维加斯联邦法院以洗钱、跨州转运盗窃资金、护照和签证欺诈等罪名，分别判处中国银行开平支行前任行长许超凡和许国俊入狱25年和22年，并勒令被告退还4.82亿美元的涉案赃款。同案的许超凡之妻邝婉芳、许国俊之妻余英怡，也分别获刑8年。
至此，震惊全国的中行开平案终于告一段落，出逃北美的三个主犯无一逃脱法律的制裁。
东窗事发
中行开平案被称为新中国最大的银行资金盗窃案，涉案资金折合人民币超过40亿元，这一“纪录”迄今未被打破。
2001年10月12日，中国银行为加强管理，将全国1040处电脑中心统一成一套系统，集中设置在33个中心。一联网，电脑中心反映出账目上亏空8000万美元，很快又飙升到4.83亿美元。
数字过于巨大，以至于工作人员最初以为是电脑系统出现了技术故障。经过几番复算之后，结论仍然相同。
中行发生了建国以来规模最大的银行资金盗用案。
通过对账目的分析，案发范围逐渐缩小，先集中于广东省，又锁定到江门市下属的开平市。
正在这时，中行开平支行的前后三任行长许超凡、余振东、许国俊突然失踪。
广东中行马上对县级支行的权限进行了收缩，并全部切断基层行直接与境外资金汇划的所有渠道。
15日凌晨3时，中国银行广东分行出具书面材料，正式向广东省公安厅经侦总队报案。这就是当年轰动一时的中行开平“10·12”案。
中行出现巨大资金“黑洞”的消息传出后，引起当地储户恐慌，开平所有的中行网点前都出现了长长的挤提队伍，两天内提取存款2.5亿多人民币。后在中国人民银行广州分行的协助下，来自广州、江门、台山等地的大量运钞车急送资金到开平，才将事态渐渐平息下来。
在人口70万的县级市开平，经济规模有限。到许超凡等三人出逃之际的2001年，全市前10年的财政收入总和还不到4亿美元。
疯狂挪移资金
2001年11月，时任国务院总理的朱镕基在广州考察指导工作。看完案情反映材料，朱镕基气愤不已，他在报告上批示了很多话，报告第一页的空白处都批满了，要求有关部门严查此案。
2002年春节刚过，由中纪委牵头，包括公检法、银行等各方面的人员，总共调动了六七百人，庞大的工作组进驻开平。
随着调查的深入，开平案真相逐渐浮出水面。
被认为是该案首犯的许超凡，年仅30岁时便当上中国银行开平支行行长，在当地显赫一时。
1993年开始，许超凡就利用职务之便，假借开平中行客户名义，以代客买卖的形式进行外汇交易，大肆贪污挪用银行资金，结果血本无归，亏损1亿多美元。
许超凡还沉迷于赌博。许的司机被抓后供述：他陪许超凡到澳门赌场，许4个小时就输了6000多万人民币。
之后许超凡又与手下的副行长余振东、下属公司经理许国俊联手，先后从银行账户中拆借大量资金，以贷款名义转出并转至设在香港的潭江实业有限公司等名下。
资金转移的路数大同小异。许超凡等人与开平涤纶集团等当地大型企业的高管勾结，给其发放巨额贷款，而贷款由开平支行打入这些公司的账户之后，再按照开平支行的指示，从这些公司账户转汇同样数额的资金到潭江实业，或通过“地下钱庄”调汇转移到香港、澳门。
潭江实业的注册人为许超凡的堂兄许日成，实际上由许超凡、余振东和许国俊三人控制，主要功能就是接收由开平源源不断转移而来的资金流。
在1998年以后，三人在犯罪的泥潭中越陷越深，被盗资金也越来越频繁地涌向境外。
自1998年3月起的两年间，许超凡等人将16笔款项利用假贷款转移至潭江实业，进而转至香港或海外的私人账户，总额高达7500万美元。
许超凡后升任中国银行广东省分行公司业务处处长，余振东、许国俊相继接替他的位置。三人相互勾结掩护，盗窃流水线一直在顺利运行。三任行长在8年里，转移资金竟达几十亿元。
在事情败露前，三人早已将配偶、子女转移到北美。
涉案款项在被盗用、非法流出境外的过程中，大批的银行、企业具体经办人员被利用，结果开平案发之后，开平支行股长以上人员被全部调换。
潜逃北美
中行发现巨大资金漏洞、全行追查的消息，很快被许超凡得知。预感到大事不好的许超凡当即打电话告诉余振东、许国俊。
2001年10月13日晚，三人出逃至香港，随即又飞往美国。
他们早就为这一天做好了准备。
1997年8月至12月间，余振东、许超凡和许国俊就已持假身份证明到香港，获得伪造的香港护照。2001年5月，三人又在香港与美国公民假结婚，申请到美国签证，并在随后几年中多次往返中国内地、香港、美国和加拿大。
而在更早的1994年，三人的妻子也在假离婚后，与美国华裔公民假结婚，随后提出申请移民美国。在1999年至2001年期间，她们先后获得了美国公民资格。
到了美国后，许超凡等人与各自的妻子会合，从此三家人隐姓埋名、各奔东西，踏上了北美逃亡之路。
案发一周后，公安部向国际刑警组织提供了广东省人民检察院对余振东、许超凡、许国俊的逮捕决定书。国际刑警组织迅速发出了红色通缉令。包括公安部、广东省公安厅在内的有关办案人员多次赶赴美国，与美国相关部门商谈协助事宜。
为了逃避警方的追踪，三家人先后在美国和加拿大之间不断转移。
2002年12月17日，美国内华达州联邦检察官办公室签发了对余振东、许超凡、许国俊三人的逮捕令。两天之后，余振东在洛杉矶被美国当局以涉嫌欺骗手段获取签证罪逮捕。
2004年9月下旬，许国俊在美国堪萨斯州一个小镇上被捕。同年10月初，许超凡在美国俄克拉荷马州一个小镇的公寓里被捕。
不同的审判
余振东被捕后，中美双方政府进行了长达一年多的谈判。
在美国，被告人如果同意放弃其辩护权，供认有罪，公诉人就可能以较轻的罪名起诉，或者向法官建议判处被告人较轻的刑罚，并将认罪协议提交法官审查后直接作出判决。统计数据显示，美国90%以上的刑事案件实行了辩诉交易。
余振东选择了美国的辩诉交易。
美国刑事检控机关在辩诉交易中，要求余振东向中国内地和香港特区执法机关提供合作，交代有关的犯罪事实，并且劝告余振东通过提供上述合作争取获得美国法院的减刑处理。
2004年2月，余振东在美国拉斯维加斯联邦法院受审。因为主动交代有关的犯罪事实，最终获得减刑处理，原来被控5项罪名，最后美国法院只认定了欺诈罪一项罪名，并判144个月的监禁。
宣判后，余振东没有上诉，也没有提出诉讼之外的其他请求。他自愿遣返，就中行贪污案受审。
为顺利解决余振东的遣返问题，2003年中方向美国相关部门作出了书面承诺。即：假如余振东在中国被起诉的话，刑期不超过12年，在国内监禁期间不受虐待等。
2004年4月16日，余振东被遣送回中国。他成为中美建交25年来，第一例经过美国国内法律程序，并由美方执法人员押送至中国的重大经济犯罪嫌疑人。
余振东的妻子于绪惠也作出了与控方合作的选择，就“非法取得美国公民身份”认罪后，她的美国国籍和永久居民身份被取消，但被允许与三名未成年子女一道滞留美国。
2006年3月31日，广东省江门市中级人民法院对余振东贪污、挪用公款案进行了一审公开宣判。以贪污罪、挪用公款罪数罪并罚，决定执行被告人余振东有期徒刑12年，并处没收其个人财产100万元。
许超凡、许国俊夫妇则选择了与余振东完全不同的道路。
2004年末，美国内华达州联邦大陪审团对“二许”及其妻子提起指控。
从2005年开始，中国公安部、司法部就与美国方面协商对两人的遣返工作，并与两人当面沟通。中方曾经提出，如果他们愿意被遣返回国领刑，刑期不会超过20年，但两人均拒绝被遣返。
2008年8月，拉斯维加斯的联邦大陪审团已经认定“二许”和妻子余英怡、邝婉芳四人诈骗、洗钱、转运盗窃钱款、伪造护照和签证等罪名成立。但量刑宣判时间三度延迟，直到今年5月6日宣判。
“二许”此次在美国所获刑期，均已经超出我国刑法有期徒刑的最高量刑标准。
“二许”案判决当日，美国司法部宣布，近期美国政府将取消“二许”的配偶余英怡、邝婉芳非法获得的公民身份。
美国助理司法部长布鲁尔在随后的新闻公告中称，“对于在各自国内滥用金融系统，随后采取欺诈手段潜逃美国，用非法所得过富足生活的外国人，我们要让他们为行为负责。”
司法合作震慑外逃者
20世纪90年代以来，重大经济犯罪的嫌疑人特别是贪污腐败分子外逃的现象呈上升趋势，引起了社会各界的广泛关注。
早在2001年新华社就报道说，中国有超过4000名贪污、贿赂犯罪嫌疑人携带50多亿元人民币公款逃到国外，其中绝大多数是贪官。去年8月，“二许”在美国被定有罪时，美国加州警方曾透露，中国反贪局和公安部向美方列出“中国贪官外逃名单”，1000多人榜上有名。
中国政府曾多次表示，对于外逃贪官，决不放松通过国际合作遣返、打击的力度。
但由于引渡存在法律上的障碍，一些欧美国家成为“贪官乐园”。外逃贪官中，目前被遣返并追回财产的只占很少比例。
北京师范大学刑事法律科学研究院教授黄风认为，“开平案两主犯在美国分别被判处25年和22年的重刑具有重要意义，它开创了外逃贪官在国外当地被审理、宣判的先例，让外逃人员不能逍遥法外。”
值得注意的是，此次美方起诉“二许”并没有受中方委托，罪名也出自美国法律体系，就连8年诉讼中的调查和部分律师费用，也由美国政府支付。中国则为此提供证据支持和司法合作。
此次“二许”被判重刑，表明在不能将外逃犯罪嫌疑人引渡或者遣返回国的情况下，通过国际刑事司法合作，依然可以使逃犯在当地被定罪判刑，而且，中国仍然保留未来行使司法管辖权的可能。
这对中国所有的外逃贪官及潜在外逃者，都是一次震慑。
中国银行新闻发言人王兆文在5月7日表示，中行支持美国有关法院的相关判决，并将充分利用判决赋予的相关权力，继续全力依法追缴被案犯及其亲属侵占的所有涉案资产。
在拉斯维加斯联邦法院判决中，还宣布对“二许”及其配偶处以三年“监控释放”，即4人无论刑满释放或是提前出狱，均需在三年内继续受到管制。
鉴于4人的外国公民身份，当他们刑满之后，移民局的官员很可能将其驱逐出境，遣返回中国。
一旦回到中国，他们还将面临中国的继续追诉——虽然他们在美国已经被审判，但在中国还是未决案，只要没有过追诉时效，中国还可以追诉。
对于首犯许超凡而言，面对在美国的25年刑期，即便顺利捱到出狱那一天，他也已经年近70岁了。